


Fox Of The Night

by 1JettaPug



Category: KISS (US Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Blood and Violence, Comic, Developing Relationship, Fantasy, M/M, Magic, Murder, Slash, Tributes, Violence, Were-Creatures, Wizards, taking inspiration from the comics and cranking it up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-13
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-05-07 05:29:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19202845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1JettaPug/pseuds/1JettaPug
Summary: An outline of something appeared through the trees, small at first, but grew in size the closer it approached. That was no man; nor animal. It was wide and rugged like the fur of a wolf or fox. Yet it was so huge that it seemed to tower over the tallest building in the village. The humans couldn’t see it, but the Wizard watched as the figure stayed hidden under the thick leaf cover as the moon disappeared high above them.It was watching them. Waiting.





	Fox Of The Night

Dark columns of storm clouds hovered above the small village, slowly swallowing the sun’s light until they were banished and replaced by an eerie chill. The surrounding sky grew dark, and the ravens cawed sharply from atop the stone buildings and treetops.

There was a crack of lightning, then suddenly the birds shrieked and flapped their wings as the wooden door of the town hall was swung open. All the town’s villagers were already standing outside, gathered in two long single file lines that formed a thick path to the woods. A handful of men dressed in black cloaks walked down the path, holding chains that lead to the figure in the center of their group. Bloodied, beaten down and gagged, the man in the center could barely walk. He was yanked and pushed along by the others, being led into the woods by the ones in the front holding lanterns to light their way. No one spoke a word. Everything was silent except for the sound of iron chains dragging along in the mud of the forest.

Some of the younger men in cloaks began to shake and turn their heads when they went deeper into the forest. The figure between them, despite his pain, tried to keep his shoulders square and his gaze sharp and straight ahead. He would not cower as his final destination grew closer. He would not flinch at the cawing of the ravens circling above. They cried out for him in anguish. They cried out for their Wizard. He couldn’t blame them.

Where were they to go when he was gone? They’d followed him this far from the golden desserts of Egypt, providing companionship and loyal support along his travels. His head almost lowered, but he corrected his stance. He sighed and merely hoped they could remember the way home.

_Home._

Oh, it seemed like such a foreign word to him… If only he hadn’t spent the last few years expanding his search for others like himself, for those of pale face and symbolic markings. If only he hadn’t traveled north into Europe to try and fuel his hope. If only he hadn’t entered this village and shown his magic to the adolescents who were intrigued by his face. If only he hadn’t let his guard down, allowing them to stab him through the heart. He lived, of course since no mere mortal blade could kill him, but if only he had hidden his face to start with, then they surely wouldn’t have bound him in iron chains and silenced him, preventing a single whisper of a spell from escaping.

A deep rumbling seemed to shake the very Earth beneath their feet, and the cloaked villagers all trembled.

“We must hurry,”

“The beast’s hunger is growing,”

“The sacrifice must be given,”

The Wizard wanted to roll his eyes and curse. Why was it that he was to be killed by a group of cultists trying to appease a god of old?

His chains were yanked, and he was propelled forward. He stumbled forward and landed on his knees, dirtying up his black leggings even further. When he lifted his head, he froze.

An outline of something appeared through the trees, small at first, but grew in size the closer it approached. That was no man; nor animal. It was wide and rugged like the fur of a wolf or fox. Yet it was so huge that it seemed to tower over the tallest building in the village. The humans couldn’t see it, but the Wizard watched as the figure stayed hidden under the thick leaf cover as the moon disappeared high above them.

It was watching them. Waiting.

The leader of the village moved forward and hauled the Wizard to his feet, pushing him in front. “Beast, we bring you this offering in place of our sheep, our goats, our cows. Please accept this offering, and we shall continue to keep out of your woods.”

Silence.

 _No._ The Wizard bit down on his gag and kicked out at the village elder, having the force in him to knock him ten feet away. It was a futile effort on his part to free himself, but he had been brought to death’s door now. He had spent thousands upon thousands of years in his current body and form, and he hadn’t wanted it to end just yet!

But his moment of triumph was cut short. Others came up and beat him with their clubs again, and from there it was like clockwork. They grabbed him and began to chain him to a tree with a thick trunk. One of them held him against the base as the other walked around the tree, wrapping the chain tightly across his forearms and bare chest.

Regardless of how hard the Wizard had tried to fight them, in his severely weakened and silent state, even two humans were too much against him.

Wetness gathered in his olive eyes as he watched the humans start to walk away from him. He lowered his head in silence… 

Noise. Noise shooting through the forest. Claws were tearing at scrub bushes. The Wizard’s eyes widened as he saw it run. All fours, paws scraping the Earth up as it ran. The moment it broke the leaf coverage, the crimson beast reared up on its hind legs and roared.

The humans, like the dumb mortals they were, stared in shock. The beast watched them freeze, and it charged. Its claws found flesh, dug in, scraped bone against bone. It threw them over its back. They screamed. They scattered. One climbed into a tree. The monster climbed upwards and tore him down, sending separate limbs and intestines falling onto the forest floor. Then it ran back for the others.

The monster hunted the entire small group down. It didn’t leave a single soul alive. Not one was spared to run back to the village and tell the tale. The villagers would figure it out, though. It wasn’t very hard to put together why none of them managed to make it back after entering the creature’s woods.

The beast sniffed the air, then bounced back several feet to one of the bodies it had mangled. The damn human was still alive, crawling for freedom, crawling for his life. The monster let him inch but an inch before it crunched his head between his jaws, finishing the job. Then it tore in for a meal.

As the monster finished, its ears flicked. Everything was quiet for a moment except for its labored breathing and the sound of the metal chains grinding against each other. There was nothing around besides trees, bushes, and the ground cover. A low, pained growl left the creature’s lips at the redness covering the ground, but it didn’t focus on that for long. Its eyes shot straight up towards the figure still chained to the tree. 

The Wizard breathed deeply through his nose, watching the creature move. It was then that he realized how quiet it was now. His ravens were no longer circling above his head and calling out to him.

He blinked, and the beast vanished. He blinked once more, and yellow eyes stared back at him.

He would have gasped if he could. Before him stood a human and animal hybrid, it looked like a fox, but stood on its legs and had long arms like a man. It was a beast of legends… It was a being like himself… The beautiful mask adorning its face glowed brighter as it approached him.

The Fox lifted its arm and one of its claws to brush against his cheek. The Wizard did not flinch, and he could not tear his eyes away from them. He had spent thousands of years looking for another given the gifts of the Elder, and now he had found one!

A single claw gently hooked around the string of the gag and cut it, freeing the Wizard’s jaw and mouth. The lithe man let a soft cry of joy out, then surprise when the creature leaned in, nudging its nose all the red blotches and slowly healing wounds on his abdomen.

“You… You are not an offering like the cows or sheep.” it said. “You are an outsider and have been forced into this…”

The Wizard stared, his jaw slack and his body grown cold. It could talk. “Y- You can talk!”

Instead of replying, the beast turned around as if to walk away.

“ _Wait!_ ” He called out without thinking. The other stopped, looking over his shoulder slightly. There was nothing he could think of to say, but the thought of him leaving him behind sent a chill down his spine. “I’ve searched a thousand years for you! Oh…! Well… someone like you-- like us! The Elder has blessed you as well, yes?”

The creature lowered its head and growled. “I have not been blessed… I have been _cursed._ ”

“But your powers-”

“My _power_ is to end lives and bring death wherever I go!” the Fox snapped, roaring right in the Wizard’s face. It blinked, then almost shied away from him. “I… I’m sorry… My temper in this form isn’t something I know how to…” it groaned, stepping back even further. “Please… Just go back to the village. It’s safer there.”

The Wizard gazed at the direction of the village, then looked back at the Fox. “They tried to kill me. You have not.” He told him, flatly. “So, now I will ask the name of my savior.”

“Y- Your…? What, no! I- I’m a monster! I am not-”

“Mine is Vincent. Or Vinnie, if you prefer.”

The Fox leaned forward and drug its claws through the chains, breaking them quickly. “Stop! Please... I… I don’t deserve to know your name.”

The forest was quiet enough to hear the lithe man sigh. “Then I must know of a way to repay you. _Please,_ ”

The Fox looked down its snout. Through some cracks in the cloud, silver moonlight peeked through and flowed across the man’s dark hair, through the autumn branches.

“Please… Get out,” The Fox growled.

It turned back to the bodies on the ground and scooped up its meal into its jaws. A long, bushy tail swished out behind the creature as it turned away from the other. Still, its ears flicked when it heard the Wizard stumble in his footing.

The man fell to his knees, breathing hard from those few fast steps he forced on his weak body. He was determined not to lose the Fox now that he had finally found him. The Fox was determined to lose him, though, and it leapt through the woods and far out of reach.

However, even from a mile away, the Fox could still turn around and watch the Wizard shiver in the cold, rubbing his side and his arms. The creature could not shake those staring green eyes off of him.

“Please... _don’t._ ”

The Wizard blinked, and the Fox had vanished.

 

  
+

 

  
The rain came down in sheets, and the gray sky was getting darker by the minute. Eric had been running for god knows how long, unable to tell time by the position of the moon with the cloud cover.

If it wasn't so cold and wet on the forest floor right now, then he would have flopped right over and fallen asleep. Even if he did lay down on the wet ground, though, his discomfort would keep him awake. Eric examined his reflection in one of the puddles, and a creature… a monster stared back at him. There was mud plastered over his hindquarters from one particularly messy fall. Dirt was wedged under his claws and between his paw pads, too.

He needed to make it home before he fully reverted back to his human self. Gods, why had he been drawn out into the moonlight tonight? Why couldn’t he just control his transformations?

He growled, and shook some blood from a deer off his chin, and sprinted. He could make it back to his cabin if he hurried. He had to hurry; he wouldn’t know what he’d do if someone caught him mid-transformation. 

When the cabin finally came into sight, Eric about fell forward. His legs were already starting to shift and condense back down to normal. He grit his teeth but continued on, reaching the door and digging his nails into it as he collided with it. 

The moment he swung the door open and slammed it shut behind him, he sighed in relief. “No one died…” No one died from his forced hunt that night. It was always a good night whenever that happened.

Eric wanted to bury his face in his curls, wanted to curl up and hide from the world then. It would be better if he did that. It would be safer for everyone if he was capable of it. Instead, though, he succumbed to the cold when the rest of his rusty fur faded from his skin. He lifted his weary head and sighed, glancing around at the cabin he’d been calling home for the past few years. The cabin was one large room. To the left was a small kitchen with a table. To the right was a double bed, a bureau, and a door to the bathroom. The center of the room held a wooden chair facing a crude fireplace.

It was too much for a beast such as himself, but it was something his human side had wanted, needed. It reminded him that he was indeed a man, and he had the same desires of comfort as a man.

Eric sighed and went into the bathroom and changed into a large flannel shirt, and pants with a draw string that were just a tad loose. He started a fire and pulled his chair close to it. He sat for an hour before he started falling asleep. Eric stirred throughout the rest of the day, adding wood to the fire, but he slept through most of it. Turning into the monster he was always took a lot of energy out of him.

It wasn’t until after the sun was already setting that he actually began to wake up. It was the moon that did it, and its beams were turning into the moonlight that called him sweetly. Eric could feel the hair on his arms prickling. He thought of closing the shutters and hiding. As long as the moonlight didn’t touch his skin, he was safe from his curse.

Eric wrapped a blanket around his entire body. He wanted to wait. There wasn’t enough food in his little kitchen. If he transformed again, he might be driven to slaughter another dozen men. He had to be careful. He knew this could easily turn into a vicious cycle.

The short man just tried to hide in his bed, and ignore the tingling at the tips of his ears. As long as he hid in the dark, he was safe and everyone else was safe. That was all that mattered.

But Eric heard footfalls across the meadows. It sounded so soft, like slender hooves or perhaps light-footed paws. Someone was in his forest... The moon was tipped over the horizon, pouring out silver in the sky. There was no time to scare them off or warn them–

“Hello?” Someone called.

“ _No!_ ” Eric snarled. He stayed wrapped up in his sheet, hoping to peek out the door and hide again before any moonlight came through the cracks.

He saw a man dressed in a black silken robe, shaded in the last bits of the sunset, a ways off. A familiar shape. It was the man… the warrior whom he had spared the other night!

Eric had half a mind to bash open the door and curse him out. But he couldn’t risk it! When he first transformed, he had no control over himself! He could rip him limb from limb! 

Instead, he cracked his door open, standing in the last rays of sun for protection, and shouted out, “Stranger! Leave _now!_ It’s not safe after sunset! The monster of the woods will soon stir!”

“Hello! My name is Vincent… or well, Vinnie, if you like.” The lithe man called out to him again. Like he hadn’t even heard a word he said. Eric watched him run- almost seemingly teleport- forward, towards his log cabin. He carried a covered basket on his arm. Eric grabbed his woodchopping ax from beside the door.

“The monster will hear you! It’ll surely kill you! Go away!”

“Oh,” The pale faced figure smiled, looking around. “Then he comes around here, then?”

Eric wanted to groan and ask if this man felt no fear, but before he could, the strange figure continued.

“I have something for him. Do you know where I should leave it?” Vinnie told him, smiling. “It’s a little bit a tribute, you might say. Will he find it around here?”

Eric blinked. He was dumbfounded. This man was surely the biggest fool he’d ever met in his life. He spared his life the other day only to have the fool throw it away so soon after. He wanted to groan.

“Don’t you know? This,” he motioned to the woods around them. “All of this belongs to him! This is the monster’s hunting ground-”

“Oh, wonderful!” Vinnie clapped his hands together. “Thank you, kind sir. Please, let him know that I got him a little gift to repay him for saving my life!”

Morning’s orange light rolled right over the small cabin. Eric sensed its presence and peeked out from under his blanket before bolting to the door.

When he opened his door, he saw it. The basket was undisturbed, even by the curious songbirds. Not many besides scavengers lived in the beast’s woods. Only crows and red foxes were the biggest things that dared get too close, but they left what was clearly his alone.

Eric nearly startled when he spotted the robed warrior, curled up on a tree branch high above him. Surrounded by several ravens, the man sat cross-legged, meditating… or sleeping now if that little tired head nod was anything to go by. Eric’s eyes danced over the golden ankh symbol of his face, transfixed by it momentarily as it reflected the golden rays of the morning. It was _beautiful…_

Ah, but his hungry stomach growled once more, and Eric shook his head, clearing his mind. He tread quietly, then, to his breakfast.

Inside the basket, atop the tightly wrapped black blanket hiding the food, was a note. Eric ignored it for the moment. He wanted to steal away with the food before he was noticed by the resting warrior.

Once inside, he could see it was nothing but symbols written on the parchment in neat rows. A fox-like symbol was repeated a few times along with five other unknown circled drawings, but he hadn’t a clue as to what it all meant. Eric tilted his head at the foreign designs and set it down on his table. He could try asking what it said later, maybe. Now, he would devour his treats.

The food, Eric found, was still warm. Impossible, it seemed, until he found a golden, seemingly enchanted necklace wrapped around it. A wizard… Eric drew in a deep breath. The man struck him as a warrior… but a wizard? Explained the gag the villagers had put on him. He could blow away with mountains with a single thought if he wanted to, Eric bet…

What want or need a wizard wanted to have with a monster, Eric didn’t know. But this was an offer, a tribute, he could hardly refuse. He was starving.

He scarfed down breakfast, and afterwards admired the metallic shimmer of the necklace. It was the same symbol that the wizard dawned on his own face.

Eric sighed, softly.

He wanted to thank him… And the monster had to prove he accepted the strange man’s proposal and tribute of food.

Wait. No.

No, not a stranger. The man had told him his name yesterday. Eric glanced towards the door, squeezing his hands together nervously. Perhaps it was time to let this Vinnie in on his darkest secret.


End file.
